AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

The Wall Street Journal
One of the most successful business partnerships in history was coming unraveled. It was early 2000, and Bill Gates had relinquished the chief executive’s job at Microsoft Corp. to Steve Ballmer — for the first time taking a back seat to his college pal and right-hand man of 20 years.
Mr. Ballmer got [...]

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Watch Mojo
Hearing about Metacafe’s founders leaving and Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt admitting that it does not know how to make money off YouTube, I realized how random success is, in business in general and online video in particular.
I like to think that as a content producer, we have a business model that makes sense, and [...]

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paidcontent.org>
Less than a month after closing its online movie download service, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) may be looking to start it again, in a different form, reports MCN, citing sources who met Wal-Mart execs at CES earlier this week. Late December, the retail giant shut down its same-day-as-DVD video download service, citing Hewlett Packard’s decision to [...]

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Miro 1.0: the free and open future of video on the net - Boing Boing
Today (today!), I am thrilled to announce that Miro, the open and free video player, has gone 1.0, and launched in a polished, slick package for Windows, Linux and MacOS. Miro (formerly Democracy Player) is the open and free alternative to [...]

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Herskovitz honored by Caucus - Variety
Helmer, producer and scribe Marshall Herskovitz has been tapped to receive the Silver Anniversary New Vision Award from Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors.
Caucus has also nommed several other industry mainstays for separate honors, including producers Paul Attanasio, David Chase, and Jon Stewart, helmers Bruce Gowers and Michael Zinberg, [...]

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Netflix on Facebook - Hacking Netflix
Netflix is quietly testing a Facebook page. From the Netflix Community Blog, “Facebook now allows companies and products to have “profiles” just like people. I’m not sure of the merits of this, but I tossed a Facebook page for Netflix up there, and if anyone would like to partake in [...]

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DiggNation Talent Partnering with DECA - Mashable
DECA, the recently funded production company behind Boing Boing TV, is adding some new development partners for the creation of content, which Deca will deliver across its video network. Its focus is on quality, professionally-produced content, but still caters to the web audiences. That being said, it’s time to [...]

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VeriSign Unveils Plan To Narrow Its Focus - The Wall Street Journal
VeriSign Inc. announced it will sell most of its operations to focus on its core businesses, which include an Internet registry business and identity-protection services.
Chief Executive Bill Roper said the move “will provide the foundation we need to generate improved shareholder returns. We have [...]

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Microsoft Sales Are Up, and Gates Is Off — Business Week Online

There was little sentimentality at the co-founder’s last meeting as full-time chairman, but plenty of bullishness from Ballmer
by Jay Greene
In his last shareholder meeting as a full-time employee, Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman William Gates spent little time dwelling on the significance of the moment. It’s [...]

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Land Grab for Women Online - Advertising Age
Look out, iVillage. The women’s digital-entertainment market officially got more crowded this week with the arrival of two female-targeted community sites with established brands and broad reach on their side.
First up is MyLifetime.com, the new online destination for Lifetime. The women’s cable network is taking an ambitious stab [...]

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